NCJ Number
84226
Journal
Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 10 Issue: 4 Dated: (1982) Pages: 271-282
Date Published
1982
Length
12 pages
Annotation
While a considerable body of research, theory, and statistics has developed concerning the 'urban crime problem' in America, crime in rural areas has been comparatively reglected. This study addresses that neglect by refining and extending National Crime Panel victimization survey techniques to elicit the victimization experiences, perceptions, fears, and actions of residents of a highly representative rural county in the midwestern United States.
Abstract
The implications of this study are discussed, including the need to educate rural citizens concerning crime prevention in order to reduce their vulnerability to continued victimization. The data suggest that the romanticization surrounding rural America may help mask the fact that increasing diffusion of criminal behavior, along with increasing homogenization of our society, have significantly eroded the rural/urban dichotomy which has dominated criminological inquiry. (Author abstract)